1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a surgical instrument retention bracket assembly. It relates particularly to a bracket capable of holding irregularly shaped surgical instruments at fixed positions in a tray or other container.
2. Background Information
There exists in the prior art various retaining means for fixing the positions of articles of one kind or another. These include hooks, pegs, clips, brackets, etc. Such retention means may be used in a wide variety of different applications. They are commonly used in the medical field to fix the positions of various articles such as surgical instruments while those articles are being transported and processed in one way or another. Accordingly, we will describe the invention in that context. It should be understood, however, that the present invention has application in other fields besides the medical field.
Surgical instruments are often transported in trays. Prior to use, the instruments are placed in the tray and subjected to sterilization. In order to maintain a separation between the various instruments in the tray, they are supported or retained by brackets positioned in the tray. Following sterilization, the tray full of instruments may be transported to an operating room and placed close to the surgical team whose members may withdraw in the instruments from the tray as needed for the particular surgical procedure being performed. Usually, the instruments are selectively arranged in the tray so that the instruments can be picked from the tray in the order in which they are needed for the particular procedure. An example of such a tray is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,539.
As seen from that patent, the known retention means for fixating instruments in a tray include brackets each comprising a relatively long blade having a bottom flange which is releasably secured to the bottom wall of the tray at a selected location thereat. The bracket blade usually has slots, openings, fingers, etc. which are adapted to receive surgical instruments so that the bracket can engage and support the instruments. As shown there, the flange of each bracket rests on the bottom wall of the tray which is invariably formed with a multiplicity of vent holes to allow steam to circulate through the tray during the sterilization process. The brackets are adjustably anchored to the bottom wall by utilizing selected vent holes. In other words, flanges are formed with fastening means which may be aligned with selected vent holes in the bottom wall of the tray. This allows complementary fastening means to be installed from the underside of the tray to secure the flange to the bottom wall at those selected vent holes.
The fastening means on the flange may simply be holes for receiving threaded fasteners inserted through the selected vent holes in the bottom wall of the tray. Alternatively, the fastening means on the flange may be small diameter cylindrical posts having reduced diameter necks, the posts being dimensioned and arranged along the flange so that they can be received in the selected vent holes and releasably anchored to the bottom wall of the tray, e.g., by engaging C-clips around the post necks that project below the tray bottom wall. By positioning pairs of brackets appropriately in the tray, the brackets can engage and support the opposite ends of different length medical instruments.
While such brackets are satisfactory for many applications, we have found that when a conventional bracket is installed as aforesaid in an instrument tray, the bracket blocks all of the underlying vent holes in the tray bottom wall thereby preventing the circulation of steam through all of those holes. This is illustrated in FIG. 4 which shows a conventional bracket B resting on a tray bottom wall W formed with a rectangular array of vent holes V. Bracket B is anchored to wall W by screws S inserted through selected vent holes V and threaded into anchoring holes H in the flange F at the bottom of the bracket. As seen from FIG. 4, flange F covers all of the vent holes V under the bracket and thereby prevents steam from entering or leaving the tray through those holes. Since a given tray may be fitted with many such brackets B, the presence of those brackets can materially reduce the circulation of a sterilizing fluid through the tray. This, in turn, materially increases the length of time it takes to properly sterilize the medical instruments supported in the tray by the brackets.
The prior brackets are also disadvantaged in that the anchoring holes H in the underside of the bracket B are formed by a drilling operation. This extra step in the manufacturing of the bracket adds to the cost thereof and constitutes a negative factor in the overall sales of the product.